Rick Scott warns of active U.S. war if Ukraine falls to Russia
Rick Scott in the U.S. Senate. Image via AP.

Sen. Rick Scott
'Our men and women are going to be at war if Ukraine can't defend its freedom.'

Sen. Rick Scott asserted Wednesday that American armed forces may be active combatants in Europe if Vladimir Putin isn’t stopped.

Scott, during an interview with Jacksonville’s WOKV, said that “our men and women are going to be at war if Ukraine can’t defend its freedom.”

“I think, unfortunately, we have to do two things. We should do everything we can to absolutely destroy the Russian economy, so hopefully the Russian people, you know, will focus on how to hold Putin accountable,” Scott said, adding Putin should “be in prison for war crimes.”

“Another thing that we have to do is we have to give every lethal weapon we can to Ukraine so they can defend their freedom,” Scott added. “Because if they don’t stop Putin, then Putin’s going to be next in Poland, Lithuania and places like that where we’re going to be in there defending them.”

Scott’s strong comments in favor of the Ukrainian resistance have been a consistent theme since Russia invaded the country six weeks ago. But this may be the most explicit he has been in suggesting a domino theory regarding Putin’s approach to subjugating former Soviet client states, and the seeming inevitability of a U.S. response if the war spills past Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders.

Scott has taken a more hawkish position on the war in Ukraine than other major Florida Republicans, including advocating for a transfer of Polish planes to Ukraine and contending that the U.S. should help enforce a no-fly zone. Sen. Marco Rubio has said that kind of aggressive play could catalyze World War III.

Scott has even embraced a version of realpolitik regarding the complicated rise of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy when asked about it by conservative radio hosts in previous interviews.

“New democracies, it’s really painful to get to where you want to go,” Scott said when asked if the Ukrainian leader was a puppet of George Soros. “You look around the world, places (where) we believe they have really good democracies now. In the beginning it was really hard, and hard to make sure there’s no corruption.”

A.G. Gancarski

A.G. Gancarski has been the Northeast Florida correspondent for Florida Politics since 2014. His work also can be seen in the Washington Post, the New York Post, the Washington Times, and National Review, among other publications. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter: @AGGancarski


13 comments

  • Joseph Panafialakis

    April 6, 2022 at 9:23 am

    Then again Scott is an utter buffoon who panders to the lowest common denominator.

    • Impeach Biden

      April 6, 2022 at 9:25 am

      If you voted for Biden, then you too are a buffoon.

      • David Lustrup

        April 6, 2022 at 2:57 pm

        wrong, if you voted for Biden then you are superior, if you voted for trump…THEN you are a buffoon…you have been correted

        • Impeach Biden

          April 6, 2022 at 3:08 pm

          You must have a case of dementia like Joe or are an idiot like his side kick Kamala. You are obviously part of the thirty percent that are still clueless after this one year wrecking ball on the economy, our southern border, etc.

      • Big orange

        April 13, 2022 at 6:40 pm

        Donald could not push a golf ball into a hole without needing to catch a breath

  • Andrew Nappi

    April 6, 2022 at 9:32 am

    There is no legitimate national interest of ours in Ukraine. Rick Scott is a war monger who would kill your children for the US goal of regime change in Russia. A despicable human being.

    • Impeach Biden

      April 6, 2022 at 10:09 am

      You call Scott a war monger but it was our own senile old man President that stood by and watched the Putin build up right after Biden took office. Where were the sanctions then? Putin sees Biden as weak and frail like many of us here in the US. America has no appetite for another war and I doubt we get involved besides sending
      weapons to Ukraine. We need a strong, and mentally capable
      leader of
      The
      US.

      • Andrew Nappi

        April 7, 2022 at 2:40 pm

        Ukraine is none of our business. We overthrew their legitimately elected government in 2014 knowing full well and good this would happen. This is an American proxy war as well as a Russian invasion. We have no interests in East Europe or Ukraine. As long as you play Blue Crime Family v Red Crime Family you will always be at the mercy of welfare/warfare state, paying for it, and your children dying for it.

      • tjb

        April 12, 2022 at 4:12 pm

        Impeached, you would have gone bat sh*t if Biden did sanctions when he took office. The cost of gas would have skyrocketed and WITHOUT a war in Ukraine, you would have called Biden many derogatory names for doing the sanctions.

        Just a reminder, our previous impotent president, if reelected, would have helped Putin to put his puppet government in Ukraine.

  • Daddy Warbucks

    April 6, 2022 at 10:13 am

    LBJ, Scoop Jackson, Cheney and Rumsfeld, The Lincoln Project. Rick Scott; All if them neocons in service to the military industrial complex.

  • A thought

    April 14, 2022 at 6:32 pm

    Well I have my excuses I offended the laws I can’t row there now.

  • Just a thought

    April 15, 2022 at 5:25 pm

    Personally sending the sex trafficking to stop curruption is silly politics rehab was good for him but rehabilitation for the ones that get jail well homeless hmm curruption

  • Just a thought

    April 15, 2022 at 5:41 pm

    New democracy information chats with exactly who and what’s

Comments are closed.


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